Artificial fishing lures used by anglers vary widely in their operation as well as their appearance. There have been many attempts in the past to provide a fish lure of the artificial bait or plug type having improved ability to catch fish when trolled or retrieved at the end of a line. The majority of such lures resemble or simulate prey, such as a small fish or insect which serves as a food source for carnivorous fish intended to be caught; and most such lures are provided with external pointed, barbed end hooks, in single, treble or gang configurations for engaging the fish when it strikes or swallows the lure, even partially. Such hooks embed in the throat or mouth of the fish when hit upon.
Exterior hooks present numerous problems. Some of the most common problems encountered with conventional fishing lures are weeds and obstructions snagging or collecting on exposed hooks, the visibility of the hooks, and failure of the hook to set firmly in the fish's mouth. There is the possibility that discerning fish avoid lures having hooks dangling therefrom. Exterior hooks can also interfere with the open-mouthed envelopment of the lure or at least the major portion thereof by the fish. When caught on under-water debris, exterior hooks may cause damage to the fishing rod or break the line. Exposed hooks also become entangled in fish line and with other equipment when the tackle container is being moved about.
In order to solve exterior hook problems, there have been numerous attempts to provide lures with hooks which are retracted within the body of the lure during normal trolling or retrieving action and then extended for engagement with the fish due to some action upon the lure by either the fish or by the fisherman upon sensing a fish strike. Many of these devices utilize spring mechanisms which keep the hook in a retracted position until the fish bites, whereupon the hook becomes exposed. Some of these devices require control or action by the fisherman to activate the hook's movement from its retracted position. The most common design of retracted hook lures incorporates the use of a moveable trigger to disengage one or more spring-biased hooks as the body of the lure makes contact with some restraining force and the trigger causes a disengagement of the spring-biased hooks.
Lures known in the art in which the hooks are concealed within the body of the lure and are designed to be exposed in response to a fish strike exhibit certain deficiencies relating to design function and complexity. One flaw that has yet to be remedied appears to be the inability to maintain the hooks in a retracted position during the initial cast. One example of the prior art devices of this kind is the type which require a multiplicity of events to occur for actuation—a fish strike and a pull on the fish line to effect ejection of the hook. For those fishing lures which have hooks hidden inside the lure body, and which are released by the angler pulling sharply on the fishing line, it is difficult for the fisherman to accurately time when the line must be pulled, or to know the difference between whether a fish has struck his bait or the lure has simply collided with a rock or other impediment. Others examples of prior art devices utilize complex linkage structures through which the hooks are triggered. Other known lures with concealed hooks allow such hooks a very limited exposure or range of travel when deployed into the exposed position. This limited exposure may permit some fish to spit or expel the lure after it has initially struck.
In general, problems encountered with the prior art devices include: (a) mechanisms difficult to assemble and keep operative; (b) unfavorable orientation of hooks or barbs for hooking and retrieving fish; (c) complex mechanisms for deploying the hook, and (d) mechanisms that involve moving parts subject to excessive corrosion and maintenance under practical conditions of use for fishing. As attempts to overcome these problems having been not altogether satisfactory, there is a need for a concealed-hook fishing lure that is useful in waters containing weeds and other debris, that is self setting, and having a simple mechanism for deploying the hook, and the ability to deploy hooks in multiple directions relative to the lure body.